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Israeli Warplanes Bomb S. Lebanon Despite Promised Airstrike Pause
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?r=279&ctl=1346ACB:3919ACA Also, Israeli naval
forces fired on a Lebanese military position today north of the port
city of Tyre, killing one Lebanese soldier and wounding three others





Smoke rises from a toppled high rise apartment building in the
southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 31, 2006Israeli
officials say warplanes carried out a last bombing run in eastern
Lebanon early Monday, shortly before Israel suspended its air campaign
against Hezbollah guerrillas for 48 hours.

Facing worldwide condemnation for an air strike that killed nearly 60
Lebanese civilians, Israel ordered its pilots to hold their fire while
an investigation of Sunday's attack in the village of Qana is under
way.

Israel says its air strikes in Lebanon ended before 2 a.m. (local
time) Monday (23 hours Universal Time on Sunday).

However, Israel's Justice Minister Haim Ramon says the move does not
mean an end to the war against Hezbollah. Suspending the bombing will
lift some of the political pressure on Israel, he says, and allow it
to keep fighting over time.

Israeli military officials say they could resume air strikes on
Hezbollah at any time, to act against militants planning to attack
Israel.

Israel's agreement on a 48-hour pause in its air campaign followed
talks in Jerusalem between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other officials.

The air strike at Qana in southern Lebanon was the bloodiest incident
in Israel's 19-day offensive against Hezbollah guerillas. Lebanese
officials say at least 34 of the dead were children.









An Israeli gunner smokes a cigarette as he sits next to 155mm shells
at an artillery position near the Lebanese border in northern Israel,
Monday, July 31, 2006The Israeli army says Hezbollah has repeatedly
used the village as a launch point for missiles aimed at Israel, and
that civilians in Qana had been warned to leave the town for their own
safety.

Israel says Hezbollah militants fired more than 140 rockets into
northern Israel Sunday, wounding at least eight people.

While the air campaign is suspended, Israeli officials say they will
try to arrange an agreement with the United Nations to organize a
period when civilians in southern Lebanon can leave the area, if they
wish.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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